An important key to reducing outdoor water consumption is to modify your watering practices and irrigation system to optimize water usage.

In addition to reducing the amount of water applied to lawns and gardens, a more sustainable landscape can be achieved by using permeable hardscape materials and introducing plant materials that require less water to thrive.

Using permeable hardscape helps reduce the amount of runoff that occurs and reduces the amount of water that goes into our sewer systems.

By allowing surface water to percolate down into the soil instead of going down the drain, we help reduce pollutants such as fertilizers and pesticides from entering our oceans and bays.

Although gravel, decomposed granite and interlocking paver systems are the most widely used, there are other options available. The key is to ensure that water can drain down into the soil, not run off the surface.

Almost any hardscape material can be used in a permeable context as long as the material is strong enough to withstand the weight and pressures that will be applied to it.

Setting a brick or tumbled stone patio on a sand base or creating a random pathway using flagstone stepping stones set on sand with ground cover joints are good permeable options.

Using plant material appropriate to our climate is also a smart way to create a more sustainable landscape. Contrary to popular belief, Southern California is not a desert climate.

Southern California is one of five regions in the world that have a Mediterranean climate, which is characterized by coastal influences, hot summers and cool winters with rain. In addition to California natives, we can pick and choose plants from any of the world’s Mediterranean areas.

In response to the growing demand for plants that use less water, nurseries are bringing in a wide variety of plants from places like Australia and South America in addition to expanding their selection of California natives.

Many of these plants have exotic blooms or foliage, and the best part is many have low water requirements. You don’t have to have a garden of cacti and succulents unless you want it.

One of the biggest water guzzlers in the plant community is turf. In areas with frequent rain yearround, this is not as problematic, but in our hotter climate with little or no summer rain, it poses a significant maintenance problem.

To keep turf grass green requires lots of water, fertilizer and maintenance.

Consider reducing the amount of lawn or eliminating it altogether and replacing it with a lawn substitute. Popular examples of lawn substitutes include ground covers such as thyme, chamomile and dymondia. Consider clumping low-water-use grasses such as buffalo grass or carex, or use a substitute such as artificial turf. All can significantly reduce the amount of water used.

Group your plants based on similar water needs. If plants with different watering needs are mixed together, the health and performance of the plants will be affected. This is why turf grass should always be irrigated separately from other planting areas.

Don’t assume you don’t have to water your garden because you have installed drought-tolerant plants. Drought-tolerant and lowwater-use plants will need to be irrigated regularly initially in order to get established.

Once plants are acclimated, water can be cut back slowly. This is particularly true of some California natives, which can take up to three years to flourish.

Whether you choose California natives or plants from another Mediterranean zone, you can be assured the plants will not only use less water but require less maintenance and fussing than plants better suited to other climate zones.

In the end, the best plant choices are those that flourish in spite of us.

Suzanne Baird, landscape designer, owns Perennial De signs, a residential landscape architectural and design firm in Westlake Village. To contact her, call (818) 292-4501 or e-mail suzanne_baird@sbcglobal.net.